Check It Out
By John W. White
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The first half of John 3:16 is very plain. It tells us what God has done for the all of mankind. He gave His only begotten Son as a lamb to be slain for the sins of the whole world. This verse is misunderstood when the context and words like believeth, not, perish, and everlasting life are overlooked. The purpose of this tract is to look at the context and these words to try to grasp an understanding what the Lord was trying to teach Nicodemus. (The tract John 3:5 will give additional insight in to this passage)
Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a ruler of Israel. He had a better
understanding of the Word of God than the Sadducees because of the position of
the Pharisees in Acts 23:8 "For the
Sadducees say that there is no
resurrection, neither angel, nor
spirit: but the Pharisees
confess both." Nicodemus believed in the resurrection of the dead, therefore,
Jesus would be able to take him from his knowledge of the earthly things
pertaining to the law to an understanding of heavenly things in the coming
resurrection of the saved dead. Nicodemus struggled with what the Lord was
trying to teach him even though he was a master (teacher) of Israel.
John 3:10 "Jesus
answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these
things?"
John 3:3
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." The phrase
“kingdom of God” is used in verse 3 and in verse 5. Jesus was trying to teach
Nicodemus about heavenly things therefore the kingdom of God is a reference to
the kingdom of the heavens. The kingdom of God is synonymous with the kingdom
of the heavens and this is substantiated by many parallel passages in the
Gospels. One example is in the following two passages:
Matthew 13:11 "He
answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the
mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to
them it is not given." and Mark 4:11
"And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the
mystery of the
kingdom of
God: . . ." Jesus told Nicodemus in
John 3:3
". . . Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be
born
again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God." If you are not part of the family of God
you will not see the kingdom of God
that Jesus Christ will establish during His 1,000 year reign.
Jesus did not respond directly to his question but adds further light on
being part of the family.
John 3:5 "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a
man be born of
water and of the
Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God." (The manuscript
a
does have "heaven" rather than "God" in verse 5.) Verse 5 tells us that as a
child of God there is a blessing beyond just
seeing the Kingdom of heaven and
that is entering into the kingdom
of heaven. The word “and” dictates that both, being born of water and being
born of spirit, are required to enter the kingdom of the heaven. Part of the
context of John 3:16 is verse 5 which speaks of entering into the kingdom of
God or of heaven. Entering into the kingdom of God is to participate as a king
or as a lord in the 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ.
Another part of the context is that of Jesus Christ, the Son of Man,
ascending to the right hand of the Father as our high priest. You find His
ascension referred to in John 3:13
"And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from
heaven, even the Son of man which is
in heaven."
The conjunctive phase "and as" ties us back to verse 13. Just as Jesus
ascended up to heaven so did Moses lift the brass serpent up in
John 3:14 "And as Moses
lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted
up:" Because verse 13 is in the context of verse 14 the lifting up of the
brass serpent is not a reference to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Only
saved people are in the context of Moses and the serpents in the wilderness.
This is confirmed in 1 Corinthians 10:9
"Neither let us tempt Christ, as
some of them (the fathers
in verse 1 and not the mixed multitude. They are not mentioned) also
tempted, and were destroyed of serpents." Who were these that tempted Christ
and were destroyed by serpents in the wilderness? The answer to this is found
in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4
"Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that
all our fathers were under the
cloud, and all passed through the sea;
2. And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
3. And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
4. And did all drink the same
spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and
that Rock was Christ." All of these under the cloud included the children of
the children of Israel that were given jewels and raiments. This incident of
the serpents was with saved people and not lost people needing to be saved.
Numbers 21:5-6
"And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye
brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for
there is
no bread, neither
is there any
water; and our soul loatheth
this light bread.
6. And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the
people; and much people of Israel died." These people who were perishing were
sinners in need of a “daysman” as in
Job 9:33 "Neither is there
any daysman betwixt us,
that might lay his hand upon us
both." Serpents were causing them to die and therefore serpents were their
enemy. The serpent made out of brass, in type, indicated that their enemy had
been judged. The Lord provided the brass serpent, in type, as their daysman in
Numbers 21:8-9
"And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it
upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he
looketh upon it, shall live. 9. And
Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass,
that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld [look intently at; by
implication, to regard with pleasure, favor or care] the serpent of brass,
he lived." Jesus Christ is our advocate with the Father to day so that we do
not have to perish because of our sin. Just as we struggle with sin so did the
children of Israel in the wilderness. One snake bite and one look at the brass
serpent did not make them immune to further snake bites. They had to continue
to look up to be healed.
The way to be born into the family of God is simply presented in
Acts 16:31 "And they said,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."
The aorist tense of the verb is used to be saved and not the present tense of
the verb. If the present tense of the verb had of been used, then as long as
we believed we would be saved and part of the family. Using the aorist tense
of the verb means that salvation is an event based upon an act of our volition
to believe what Jesus Christ did for us upon the cross. In John 3:15 and 16
the word believeth is in the present
tense John 3:15
"That whosoever believeth [present active participle] in him should not
perish, but have eternal [age, an
adjective] life." The present
active participle of believe
indicates faithfulness. The present active of
believe is equivalent to faith. Faithfulness in looking at the
brazen serpent insured life. The one looking at the brazen serpent had to have
faith that he would be healed by looking. If they did not believe that the
brazen serpent would save them from perishing they would perish in the
wilderness losing their present life but also a life of plenty in the land
flowing with milk and honey.
Be warned! Trying to associate
eternal life with salvation will create un-resolvable theological problems
unless you believe you can work for your salvation. Our salvation is based
upon the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross where
eternal life, better translated
age
life, is based upon our works. By
being faithful in well doing we are seeking agelasting life in
Romans 2:6-7 "Who will render
to every man according to his deeds:
7. To them who by patient continuance in
well
doing seek for glory and honour and immortality,
eternal
life:" Reaping agelasting life is based upon our continuing in well
doing in Galatians 6:8-9
"For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption;
but he that soweth to the Spirit shall
of the Spirit reap life everlasting [age, an adjective].
9. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap
(eternal life), if we faint not." The Lord will render to every child of God
according to his well doing at the judgment seat of Christ. Those who do not
faint in well doing will receive the desired life in the coming kingdom of
Christ.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Who is the God that so loved the world? He is the God of Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God....". He is the "....God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God." 1 Peter 1:21. "Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:"
The adverb "so" could be translated In this way. The first phrase would be translated: "For in this way God loved the world". What a way to express that love in His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The parsing of the verb "Loved" is aorist, active, indicative. The action of the aorist tense is punctiliar or action that occurs at a point. The aorist tense is usually translated in the past tense God loved. The active voice tells us that God did this on purpose. God did not just love the world with words only, but with a wonderful deed of the giving of His Son. Ephesians 2:4 "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,"
God gave (aorist, active, indicative) punctiliar action, Jesus Christ to die for the sins of the world. To graph the action of the aorist tense you use a dot (·). Hebrews 9:26 "...But now once in the end of the world (aijw>n, age) hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Romans 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." John 1:29 "...Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Jesus Christ saves those who believe or receive him as their personal saviour as in the case of Nicodemus. John 3:3 "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." The phrase "born again" would be better translated may be begotten from above. The verb born [genna>w] is aorist, passive, subjunctive. To be born into the world is an event that can happen only once. To be born into the family of God is also an event that only happens one time. Paul used the aorist tense of the verb believe when he told the Philippian jailer how to be saved. Acts 16:31 "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." If Paul had used the present tense of the verb believe then when one stopped believing, then he would be lost. The aorist tense of the verb believe in Acts 16:31 is in agreement with the aorist tense of the verb born in John 3:3 and John 3:7.
Not only did God give Jesus Christ to be the saviour of the world, but God gave Jesus Christ to be our high priest. Hebrews 5:5-6 "So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. 6. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever (aijw>n, an age) after the order of Melchisedec." Jesus Christ had a new beginning when he became our High Priest for this age of grace. Hebrews 9:11 "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come..." Romans 8:34 "... It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."
The word that is from the Greek word i{na and it could be translated in order that. In order that those who have been saved and who are being faithful to the Lord might hold fast to their profession. Hebrews 4:14 "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession." Hebrews 10:23 "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)”
The word believeth is a present, active, participle. It is in the nominative case and has the definite article, so this participle is treated as a noun. The present tense of the verb believe is used for those who are living by faith and are being faithful to the Lord. Acts 13:39 "And by him all that believe (present active participle) are justified (present passive indicative) from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." Romans 3:28 "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified (present passive infinitive) by faith without the deeds of the law." To live by faith is to be believing and that can be stopped at any time, but the action of the aorist tense of the verb believe can not be stopped or reversed once the action has been done. Luke 8:13 "...When they hear, receive [present, middle] the word with joy; and these have [present, active] no root, which for a while believe [present, active], and in time of temptation (adversity) fall away [present, active]." The ones believing are the ones who continue to hear and become rooted and grounded in the Word of God; therefore they do not faint when they are tried. When a child of God stops believing he then starts falling away and the process of justification also stops. To fall away is to become chargeable before God.
The Greek word for "not" is mh>. In the Greek there are two words for not. They are the words mh> and ou>j. In Dana and Mantey's Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, page 265 we find insight into the meaning of these two words. In paragraph 241 they say the word mh> ". . . is the weaker, milder negative, denying subjectively and with hesitancy. 'In a word, mh> is just the negative to use when one does not wish to be too positive. Mh> leaves the question open for further remarks or entreaty. Ou> closes the door abruptly." A summary is given at the bottom of page 265 and following: "The general distinction between ou> and mh> is that ou> is objective, dealing only with facts, while mh> is subjective, involving will and thought... In the NT ou> is almost entirely confined to the indicative, while mh> monopolizes the other moods." "Or, according to Dr. C. B. Williams..., "ou> expresses a definite, emphatic negation; mh> an indefinite, doubtful negation. If a negation was to be asserted unequivocally, ou> was always used; if hypothetically, mh> was invariably used" All of the above information is given to show that the thought of not perishing is dependent upon the faithfulness of the one who is believing. If you stop believing, you can perish, but because the negative mh> is used that means you can start believing again.
The phrase should perish is translated from the Greek verb ajpo>llumi. The parsing of "should perish" is aorist, active, subjunctive. Ajpo>llumi is translated destroy, die, lose, lost, marred and perish. Only those who have life can die or perish Only those who are whole can be destroyed or marred. not those who are dead in their trespasses and sins. Only those who that belong can be lost. Those who are not saved are already dead in their trespasses and sins and cannot perish. As already referred to above, in the context of John 3:16, is John 3:14-15 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." Those who perished in the wilderness failed to enter into the choice inheritance in the land flowing with milk and honey. All of this happened unto them to teach us that we also can lose our reward or a better inheritance by the way we live. The following passages clearly indicate that our inheritance is based upon our faithfulness and service. "Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ." Colossians 3:24 "Look to yourselves, that we lose (ajpo>llumi) not those things which we have wrought (ejrga>zomai
labor for, trade, work, do), but that we receive a full reward." 2 John 1:8 Those that perished in the wilderness did not lose their salvation, just their inheritance. We are exhorted as disciples to perish now, to die to self, in this age so that we can enjoy our inheritance, reward, in the coming millennial age. Matthew 16:24-27 "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life (yuch, soul) shall lose (ajpo>llumi) it: and whosoever will lose (ajpo>llumi) his life (yuch>v, soul) for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose (ajpo>llumi) his own soul (yuch>)? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul (yuch>)? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." We shall receive the reward of our inheritance when Jesus Christ comes in the glory of the Father with his angels. If we do not perish now, then we will not have any rewards then, and the life we could of had will not be enjoyed because it will perish.
The parsing of the verb have [e[cw, to have] is present, active, subjunctive and should be translated "he may have". The verb have implies that we have, at the present time, agelasting life. Agelasting life is not a present possession, but something we will receive in the age to come according to Mark 10:30 "But he shall receive... in the world [aijw>n, age] to come [present participle, the one coming] eternal [aijw>niov, agelasting] life." The verb have [e]cw] in this context could be better translated esteem or regard. King Herod wanted to execute John the Baptist but could not because the people counted, esteemed or regarded John as a prophet. Matthew 14:5 "…he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet." (See tract e]cw, to have, to hold, to esteem) If we continue believing we will continue to esteem or regard life for the age and do what ever is required to one day receive agelasting life. The present tense of the verb "have" means action of esteeming should be continuous. If we continue to regard and esteem life for the coming kingdom age, we will be faithful to sow "… to the Spirit (and) shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Galatians 6:8-9 When we stop believing, in the present tense, and stop esteeming, in the present tense, we are growing weary in well doing and are in danger of fainting. If we faint we will perish and forfeit an inheritance with those of the seed of Isaac in the heavenlies.
What is the meaning of
have eternal life? (See
tract Eternal Life Check It Out) Eternal life is the opposite of
perishing or the losing of one's inheritance. The word
eternal is translated from the Greek word
aijw>niov and is an adjective
describing
life.
Aijw>niov
comes from the noun aijw>n
which is translated or interpreted many ways, but it should be
translated
age. Translating
aijw>niov
as eternal is interpretation
and not translation. aijw>niov is an
adjective that describes a person, place, or a thing.
Mark 10:30 "But he shall
receive.. in the world [age] to come [the
one coming] eternal [agelasting]
life." The parallel passage to Mark 10:30 is
Matthew 19:28-29 "And Jesus said
unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the
regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also
shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And ... shall inherit everlasting life." The time that the Apostles will
inherit agelasting life is when they will be ruling over the twelve tribes of
Israel. Christ will be sitting upon the throne of his glory. That time is
known as the 1,000 year reign of Christ which is also called the
millennial age. Our inheritance
is dependent upon what we do now in this life. Do we perish in this age and
live in the age to come or do we live in this age and perish in the
millennium, the age to come?
Romans 2:6-7 "Who will render to
every man according to his deeds:
To them who by patient continuance in
well doing seek for glory and
honour and immortality, eternal
[agelasting] life:" It is through
well doing that we are rewarded
agelasting life. Galatians 6:7-8
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he
also reap. For he that
soweth to his flesh shall of the
flesh reap corruption; but he that
soweth to the Spirit shall of the
Spirit reap life everlasting.
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season
we shall reap, if we faint not." If
we faint we will perish but if we remain faithful, continue to believe, we
will reap life for the coming age. 2 Timothy 2:12-13 "If we
suffer [present, active of ujpome>w,
endure], we shall also reign with him:
if we deny him, he also will
deny us: If we
believe not [one word ajpiste>w,
present active], yet he abideth
faithful: he cannot deny himself." We will reign if we continue to believe,
else we will perish!
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